If Ibrahimovic is as over weight and out of form as being reported, Sweden's chances are not as bright as I suggested. Ukraine had an impressive warm-up game so I might have got that wrong as well.

http://football.guardian.co.uk/worldcup200...1784740,00.html Round-up of the Italian situation and its impact on the World Cup.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/e...v_2/5024980.stm League 2 game match fixing allegation to be examined by FA

Guido Rossi responsible for investigating and deciding the punishments has issued his first report: "nothing works as it should in Italian football". Perhaps he will decide they are all crooks and relegate them all? Result=status quo and pass the buck to UEFA. First off the sinking ship is Patrick Viera who wants to go back to Arsenal.

Mexico- I don't see it (despite them being stronger than usual). Ecuador could well qualify from their Group which I think makes Sweden a good bet for the semi-finals and an England v Germany last 16 meeting. I don't think any African team will make the last 16. USA to go home without a point because of the Group they are in and the fixtures order. Australia to be the surprise package of the tournament. Ukraine and S&M will flatter to deceive.

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,1072-2198864,00.html The foul stink of Italian football. When I read that list of Parma v Juve grievances, I cannot help but think that it is like Rovers v Mancs- only differs by degree.

Norwegians enjoying the 0.5% tax and crap connectivity in Malta. Will they have Thwaites Mild at Ewood? The finest drink ever created.

Sorry FLB, Kiddo would have taken us down again. The performance I saw by Rovers at Swindon in 99/00 was the worst ever, I mean EVER.

Q. What were ten+ goals a year strikers aged around 30 fetching at that time? A £1m+ Q. Why had Dickov's agent written a £150K relegation release clause into his contract? A. So he could negotiate a Bosman or as near as makes no difference Q. Were we the only club interested in Dickov when he was leaving Leicester? A. No Q. Why has Dickov left us now. A. Because Rovers were offering a wages deal more appropriate for a 33 year old squad player which were probably less than 50% of what he was on before and he saw the chance of another Bosman-type screw at Man City.

I can't be bothered. Just take it that Dickov was on a substantial wage based on arriving cheaply on the transfer.

Dickov was on a hefty wage- remember the deal he had was a transfer for £150K- that amount under a market value of perhaps £2m at the time would have gone into his wage packet. The guy was a very useful player but if he turns up at Citeh, we can be pretty certain they will struggle next season. In the last six months, Dickov certainly looked like time, his reputation with referees and defenders' coaches had caught up with him.

Because the deadline for nominating entrants to next year's UEFA competitions is rapidly approaching, the enquiry team has to get a move on if any Italian teams are to be involved. Last year the UEFA dealine was 6 June so it is quite probable that the title stripping and relegations will be handed out within the next two weeks. At present nine clubs in Serie A and B (including AC) are being looked at for specific match fixing irregularities in 2004/5 only with the European places of Juve, Lazio and Fiorentina under the greatest threats. It would be the greatest irony to see that city of probity and good governance, Palermo, step into European competition as a result of all this! Of course, the CL would be further devalued as the 7th placed Italian club might get into the bonanza although their European ranking points could be low enough so they would hopefully not be seeded in the 3rd Qualifying Round. The Italian investigators haven't reportedly started on 2005/6 or any earlier seasons yet. There have been suggestions that Moggi's best hope is to turn "Queen's evidence" and name everyone and everything he has been involved in. On that basis, the six hours he spent in his first interview on Monday could have done a lot of damage. World Cup coach Lippi has admitted he was pressurised into picking GEA (Moggi's son's agency) players but he hasn't said whether the pressure worked or not.

Inter-Rover, I completely understand when you say it was so obvious nobody believed it. It is the same feeling one gets about refereeing and Liverpool and Man U! A Maltese journalist has written: What sport is really dirty? How depressing The past two weeks have turned Italian football upside down, after the revelations of Juve’s Luciano Moggi’s match fixing with referees, another eight teams are being investigated. Fiorentina, Lazio, Udinese, Siena, Messina, Arezzo and Avellino are all being investigated along with Juventus. Three of the above mention teams are being investigated for match fixing and most likely if found guilty be relegated. The other clubs remaining are either victims or accomplices of Moggi’s match fixing. At least Inter, Milan and Roma have not been mentioned and I wonder what could be going through the management’s minds of these teams. It is a very desperate situation indeed. The new information coming out of this investigation is that Franco Carraro who resigned as chief of the Italian Football Federation as a result of this scandal knew about these wrong doings, as did the heads of the referee selection committee of the 2004/2005 season, Luigi Pairetto and Paolo Bergamo. I am beginning to believe that the Scudetto had already been decided at the beginning of the season, not by the players but men in the boardroom. All the pressure on Milan and Inter to win the Scudetto was useless since it seems the outcome had already been decided. Football, unfortunately, has become a sport where men with suits and ties decide the outcome of a game and not the athletes and team effort. All the dubious plays and calls of referees this season and in other seasons seem to be making sense now. I don’t know how many times this year Juve have had final calls that always decided a game in their favour. After the smoke clears from this enquiry I really hope that the management who were involved in this wrong-doing get penalised in a major way and not just a slap on the hand. If Moggi is found guilty, Juventus should have the Scudetto taken away from them and also be relegated. Incidentally it appears that a very minor official of AC has been called in which is why they are on the list. Whether that is the limit of their complicity remains to be seen. The latest- Italian FA in Government administration, Juve share price continues to crash, Moggi wanted to play the day the Pope died because of opposition suspensions and so it goes on....

BBC's take on Chelsea formation. I will be very surprised if the Roberto Carlos rumour has come from anywhere except his agent and ids going no further than his agent. Chelsea will keep Gallas unless they prise Ashley Cole out of Arsenal.

The commentaries I have read suggest thyat Essien will give way for Ballack with one out of Joe Cole, Duff and Robben making up the numbers. However, the Chelsea formation is likely to evolve again- there was a fascinating article which was referenced on here from the BBC suggesting 4-2-2-2 next season as the next mutation after 4-3-3 or was it 4-3-2-1 this year. As for personnel, it seems Chelsea will finally get Shevchenko and are stalking Etoo and Tevez. On the way out, it seems that SWP (who was far worse than Emo if we are honest about his Ewood appeareance) is on his way although the wistful noises Psycho is making from Eastlands tells us everything about his lack of spending ability this summer. Crespo is probably makeweight for Shevchenko which means Gudjohnsen goes when either Etoo or (more likely) Tevez arrive. Gallas won't go as at the moment I am struggling to think of anyone better. If Chelsea get pushed around by player power, who is safe? Personally, I hope Abramovich leaves Gallas to rot rather than give in. Even though Liverpool and Arsenal (with or without Henry) will be significantly stronger next season but I guess Mourinho/Abramovich will have raised the bar a little too high again. I cannot see how the Glazered Mancs can compete and expect next season will be RFW's last. However, with Serie A due to restart whilst the transfer window is still open, who knows how many Italian/Brasilian/Argentinian/Czech/Swedish internationals will be available for hire when August comes round?

James Richardson on the Italian scandal The Italian scandal explained in English terms (although I don't like the Rovers' role in it)

Juventus shares suspended, anti-Mafia magistrates on the case.

I am sure every single player cannot wait to get out of that steaming pile. No wonder Dunny was at Ewood.

Hadn't thought about that- G14 membership is withdrawn if a club gets relegated if I remember correctly. Will there be any Italian members left? The BBC World Service had a nice phrase in its report this morning: "This isn't match fixing, it's season fixing". The Juve fans also expect to be demoted and were angry because they claimed they would have won anyway without the hand in the marmalade. As for Berlusconi,the delay in his resignation as PM after electoral defeat was primarilly used to try to negotiate a deal with the prosecutors. Nobody but nobody sees AC as anything but utterly DC. They might as well give the last ten Scudettos to Inter on the grounds that they are so incompetent. I wonder where Collina was/is in all this? Would be a blow to football's image if he was involved but difficult to see how he could not be. Actually, he comes out of this account in The Times as completely clean> "You are the Boss- you own Serie A." Ten examples given of Moggi controlling Italian football. If just one were correct, Serie A is reduced to a sick joke.

All very fast moving. The Head of the AIA- the Italian Refs Federation has stepped down whilst Moggi is not only a member of the Juve board that resigned en bloc, he has said that tomorrow is his last day as GM of Juve. Cappello has said he'll stick by Juve. Lazio fans demonstrated today their loyalty to the club by saying they will follow them in Serie B next season. Inter's Mancini reckons its all been a fix since 2001.

More Juve players in the betting investigation. Very quiet in Malta- last year when Juve won the scudetto, the Juve supporters were out in force car cading but this time it seems they know something's up. That spotless politician/TV magnate/AC owner Berlusconi has just demanded the last two titles be returned to their rightful owner- AC Milan

The latest breaking story is that there are tapes of Moggi Snr coaching Cannavaro and Ibramovich on how to throw sickies, turn up late and say rude and racist things about fellow-players to ease their way out of Inter and Ajax respectively. No doubt the lawyers of those two clubs are preparing their cases as I write this. Juve managed to attract a sub-1,000 crowd to an Italian cup match if I remember correctly. Will anybody miss them given the Agnelli family are distancing themselves quicker than a Ferrari? I guess Serie D Nord beckons- at least the true club of Turin, Torino will be top dogs again in the Capital of Savoie. Even Juve only drop to Serie B, the financial hit is estimated at around £80m even if they win promotion and CL qualification in successive seasons.

Well done Bob! I'd missed the comment by Kiwi- just goes to say that New Zealand sports commentators know next to nithing about sport I guess. If the NZers in NZ are as passionate about NZ as the NZers are over here, then the NZ TV channel ought to get hooked into Rovers matches pdq if they are not going to miss out on the biggest NZ sporting hero in 2007 in world sporting terms. There is a more than half decent chance that Ryan Nelsen will be part of something very special at Ewood Park next season.

The reason Gold and Sullivan bought BIG CLUB

Summary of the Italian scandal. In so far as it affects English football (yet), there will be no Italian officials in World Cup games and it is beginning to look like Buffon won't be going to Germany. Lippi's selection policy appears to have been influenced by Italian industrialists.